When Mary Heath flew in to Abercorn (now Mbala, the most northerly town in Zambia), she was thoroughly drenched from heavy rain that fell like a waterfall - we hope Tracey and Co aren't having a similar experience.
In Mbala, a prosperous town, Mary Heath and the Bentleys linked up with the Chrysler Cape to Cairo motor expedition as planned. After that, there was no more contact - co-ordinating the movements of slow cars on the ground and fast (-ish) plane in the air was proving impractical.
After a few days rest while waiting for supplies, the two planes set off again, heading for Tabora in Tanzania, a town known as the fruit capital of Western Tanzania, its streets lined with century old mango trees.
After struggled to fly over the nearly hills and examining an extinct crater, they reached the Rungwa Swamp, north of Lake Rukwa.
This Lady Mary described as ‘one of the most beautiful sights I
have ever seen, with the winding rivers flowing into it, and the
flecks of cloud above’.
At the Ungalla river, an
enchanted Lady Mary dropped down to inspect a herd of 15 to 20 small
elephants feeding on the riverbank. By now the hard work of the day
was over and for the final 100 miles, the two planes followed a
straight road through the bush to Tabora,
Among the town’s
inhabitants were the Wyatts, Mary’s ‘oldest friends in
Tanganyika’. She was delighted to discover that they were now ‘Mr
and Mrs Provincial Commissioner’.
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